WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en
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Between the coast of Southern California
and the Channel Islands lies a
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70 nautical mile stretch of the Pacific
Ocean known as the Santa Barbara Channel.
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The exciting things about this region,
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the Southern California Bight and the Santa
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Barbara Channel in particular is it's
one of the most reliable places to see
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concentrations of blue whales
anywhere in the world.
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Blue whales occur throughout the world's oceans
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and occured in some of their largest numbers
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in the Southern Ocean. But right
now with what whaling has done,
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this is probably the best place to see blue
whales around the year.
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There are areas that can get hundreds of blue whales
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in an area feeding and that's something you don't
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run into anywhere else in the world.
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This same channel also serves as an important
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passageway for another ocean giant:
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container ships. Maritime shipping is the
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lifeblood of the global economy.
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At any given moment across the globe,
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thousands of container ships are steaming across
oceans, delivering 90% of our everyday
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goods and products.
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In the Santa Barbara Channel alone, more than 2,700 ships
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power through these waters annually
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making it a very busy shipping lane.
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One of the emerging threats to many large
whale species, not just blue whales,
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has been ship strikes. These ships move
incredibly fast and these whales that
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just are not used to this kind of a
threat don't seem to know how to avoid
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that or even recognize it as a threat.
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So that puts them in vulnerability of
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actually just being run over by the ship,
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either hit by the bow or sometimes hit by the propeller.
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We understand that no
ship captain wants to hit a blue whale
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or humpback whale or fin whale as they come
through the channel.
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We also understand that they have busy schedules to keep
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as they move the world's goods from
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Asia to the West Coast.
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Our mandate at Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
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are to protect these blue, humpback, and fin whales as they come
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here every summer to feed.
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Shipping has also been linked to
increased air pollution in coastal communities.
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We estimate that ships contribute more than 50% of our nitrogen oxides pollution
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in Santa Barbara County,
and in Ventura County it's more than 25%,
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and we are very concerned about that
because NOx combines to form ozone,
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which is a principal component of smog.
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And it's very very harmful to human health.
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We're worried about exhaust in this
community.
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Asthmatic children have inflamed airways.
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These are the tubes
that go into the lungs.
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And they're very sensitive to anything
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that will make inflammation worse.
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Nitrogen oxide is one of those things
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because it's converted
by sunlight to ozone and it's a
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pro-inflammatory mediator, ozone is,
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and will make the inflammation in the lungs even worse,
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making it more difficult for them
to breathe.
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Groups from Santa Barbara and
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Ventura counties formed a unique
partnership to try a new approach.
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Voluntary vessels speed reduction.
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The vessel speed reduction incentive program
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offers financial incentives to ships
that are willing to slow down
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voluntarily as they pass through the
Santa Barbara Channel.
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On average, ships traveling through the Santa Barbara Channel
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are traveling 14 to 18 knots.
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In the incentive-based program, we're asking
that they slow down to 12 knots and
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we're offering a bonus if they're
willing to slow down to 10 knots.
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There are certain speeds where the vessels are
more energy efficient and therefore use
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less fuel and produced fewer air
emissions.
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You know, reducing speed really does reduce air pollution.
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The way that works, it's just like your car.
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As you know, your car is more fuel efficient
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say if you're operating at 45 or 55 rather than say at 85.
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So slowing down does get you that
better fuel efficiency.
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The same thing is true with a vessel.
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By slowing down the
vessel to something closer to the
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optimal speed, we can reduce fuel
consumption and that reduces the air pollution.
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Maersk is really committed to
a healthy environment and that's why we
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really value this opportunity to partner
with this innovative team on this
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voluntary speed reduction program
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This program is really what I think we all
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aspire to achieve.
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A program that achieves the
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results on a voluntary basis,
where private industry sees that there is
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a better way of doing things that still
allows them to achieve their bottom line
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but is being sensitive to the impact to
the environment.
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It's always gratifying when you can work in partnership
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with private industry and we've been very
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excited to see the way the shipping
companies have really come to the table,
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have talked to us about the program,
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have helped us form the program, and are now
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very actively participating in the program.
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Initially as usual we're a little reluctant,
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but when we actually got to the point that I picked up the phone,
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talking to another human face,
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and it opened up the dialogue and realized that NOAA
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wasn't out there to be very heavy-handed
with what you're trying to accomplish
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and in trying to have it one way it's
been two ways.
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Slowing ships down is a
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solution to multiple environmental
challenges.
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Slower ships are safer ships for whales.
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Slower ships emit less air
pollution.
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And slower ships are quieter ships,
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reducing the noise impacts in a
very noisy ocean.
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Fifty years ago many
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scientists who studied whales thought
the blue whale was doomed to extinction.
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And we're fortunate now that we've seen
that turn around.
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Populations around the world are slowly recovering
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and one of the biggest success stories we have here
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is in the Santa Barbara Channel.
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I think all the partners in this program
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recognized that it's a very special
project.
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We've brought together really diverse interests --
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government agencies, nonprofits, private industry -- and created
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a voluntary, non-regulatory solution that
addresses all these problems together --
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air pollution, greenhouse gases, whale
protection -- in this very special marine environment.
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We look forward to continuing and expanding this program.